House rejects effort to cut off NSA program

House rejects effort to cut off NSA program

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House has voted to continue the collection of hundreds of millions of Americans' phone records in the fight against terrorism.

The House rejected a measure to end the program's authority. The vote was 217-205 on Wednesday.

Republican Rep. Justin Amash had challenged the program as an indiscriminate collection of phone records. His measure, if approved by the full House and Senate and signed by the president, would have ended the program's statutory authority.

The White House, national security experts in Congress and the Republican establishment had lobbied hard against Amash's effort.

Libertarian-leaning conservatives and some liberal Democrats had backed Amash's effort.

The vote was unlikely to settle the fight pitting privacy rights against government efforts to thwart terrorism.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Rikki Mitchell

Rikki Mitchell is a proud University of Arizona grad and joined the KGUN9 team after graduation. Rikki reports for the evening newscasts.

Get news or weather in your inbox

Comments

This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute.
If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse,
click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting,
you agree to our Terms of Use.